Gujiya can be prepared either sweet or savory. Since it’s the occasion of Holi, I plan to make it sweet. Gujiya’s are sweet dumplings prepared with mawa– coconut mixture and glazed with sugar syrup. My kids call them sweet flaky pastries and they just love gujiya.

The filing is extremely simple to make. Homemade mawa combined with desiccated coconut, sugar and dry nuts creates the most yummy filing. Don’t have mawa on hand, try making it at home. Follow this link to homemade mawa.

Now on to the recipe!

Begin the recipe by preparing the outer crust. Knead a soft pliable dough, cover and let it rest for 30 minutes. While the dough is resting, prepare the filling. Store bought mawa was used in this recipe but you can always prepare mawa at home.

Dry roast mawaand coconut together. When it turns light brown in color, take it off the flame and set it aside. In a separate pan, dry roast the nuts too. Dry toasting releases their essential oils and brings out their fullest flavor. Later, these toasted nuts are grounded to their powdered form and added to the mawa mix.

Mawacan be substituted with roasted sooji (semolina) and toasted nuts. Use the same measurements and continue with the recipe. When the dough and filling is ready, let’s proceed to shape and stuff our gujiyas.

After stuffing the gujiya, make sure they are sealed tightly. Apply little water to seal and secure the edges. A slight hole in gujiya will make them disperse in oil making a huge mess. Please follow a step by step guide below.

After the gujiyas are cooked, soak them in chasni/sugar syrup . Soaking will not make them too sweet because the outer crust (the dough) has no sugar added to it. But again it’s optional. You can enjoy them without any sugar coat. They tastes equally good.

FOR A HEALTHIER VERSION – Try baking these gujiyas @ 400 Degrees F for 20-25 minutes until light brown in color. Gujiya Recipe

This festive season do give these yummy gujiyas a try. Soft and fluffy on the inside but nicely glazed and shinny on the outside because of the syrup. Both the methods are displayed below- making gujiya with mould and without mould.

In a heavy bottom pan add mawa, dry coconut and toast them on low heat. Toast for 15 minutes on a low flame and as shown in the third picture when the mixture turns light brown in color, add saffron strand. Mix and take it off the flame.

In a separate kadhai add nuts (except raisins)and toast them on a medium flame. Once they start omitting their aroma, take it off the flame and allow it to cool completely. Ground them in a coffee grinder until it turns into a fine powder. Add this nutty mixture to the mawa mixture along with raisins.

Stir it well. Add sugar, milk and mix until everything is well- blended.

This mixture should be moist. To check - take some mixture in your hands, squeeze and if it forms a soft ball, its perfect and if its still crumbly add few more drops of milk to form a soft ball.

GUJIYA WITHOUT MOULD

Making Gujiyas without the mould. Take a small golf size ball of the dough.

Roll it in a thin circle.

In the half fold, place some gujiya mixture.

Fold gujiya into half.

Apply water along the edges and seal it tight.

Using a fork SECURE the edges by making imprints of the fork.

Gujiya is ready for frying.

GUJIYA WITH MOULD

If making gujiya with a mould, follow the directions below.

Roll out a disc shaped circle.

Like a blanket place this rolled out dough over the mould.

Fill the gujiya mixture at the base. Apply water along the edges.

Flip over the top and firmly press the mould- seal the edges.

Using a knife trim off the excess dough and mix it with rest of the dough.

Perfectly shaped gujiya in a mould.

This is how the finished gujiya looks like.

All the gujiyas should be sealed properly or they will open up during frying, leaving a mess. The one on the far left corner in the picture is not fit for frying.

Gujiyas are ready for an oil bath.

This is what is left of the gujiya mixture.

FRYING GUJIYA

Heat oil in a pan. When ready for frying, lower the flame and fry gujiyas until golden brown in color. Gujiyas need to be fried in a medium hot oil for a crispy layer.

Remove from oil and drain it on the paper towel.

Gujiyas are ready.

SUGAR SYRUP

Let's prepare the sugar syrup. Combine all the ingredients in a pan and on a medium flame bring it too a boil. Scum will start forming on top of the liquid.

Using a spoon, collect and discard. I had to remove it twice during the whole boiling process. Keep boiling till the liquid is reduced and it start to thickens.

Lower the heat, dip spoon in the syrup and remove. Do not touch for the first few seconds, it will be very hot. Touch the syrup with your finger and if it coats your finger it means that it is about to reach it's first string consistency.

I have prepared one string sugar syrup for this recipe. To test - press your forefinger and thumb together. Start pulling them apart.

If the thread/string between your finger and thumb doesn't break after pulling apart, single thread or 1 string sugar syrup is ready. Take it off the flame and continue with the recipe.

Drain the hot syrup.

Clean hot sugar syrup /chashni will look like this. Dip each Gujiya in this syrup for 2-3 minutes and set it on a clean plate. If baking the gujiya - follow the same procedure.

Wonderful Ruchi..Loved the demo with photographs.used the fork method and. Came out very well..But the outer portion was soft , expected a crispier version..I didn’t use sugar syrup at the last..Is it bcz of that?…But it taste awesom

Thanks Swathi!
These gujiyas will be soft from outside, when hot and freshly coated with sugar. But as the sugar crystallizes – the outer layer will become crisp with a soft and chewy coconut filling inside.

Hi Ruchi, need to know 1 more thing. I had made ghee at home from malai. Can I use that thing (I dont know what it is called) which I left after the ghee is made, to make gujhiya. Please reply asap. Thank you.

Hi Ruchi, I am planning to make gujhiya today. Please clarify one doubt before I proceed with your recipe.
You have mentioned dissected coconut under the ingredients, but I don’t see you adding in the recipe.

Thanks Ruju!
1. Do you want to prepare modak out of the filling? If so, then yes you can do that.
2. Yes you can prepare them in advance. Just make sure that they are just dipped and not soaked in sugar syrup. Store them in your refrigerator and they should be good for a week.

Just loved every part of this recipe. my gujiyas were a hit at holi party. stuffing was so yum that I saved it for next day and made parathas out of it. everyone loved it. thanks Ruchi, god bless you and happy holi to u .

I know how to make the Gujias since my childhood and I love them and you have explained very nicely through the pictures as well. I hv couple of quereis though, when we buy gujias from the shop it has a liquid filling inside it, how can we do that?? AND could we make gujias with Milkmaid as well, and which is better MAWA or MILKMAID??

Hi Ruchi.. your recipe looks amazing. I m gonna try today. However before giving a shot i have a question: the Mava that u have used is that the SWEETENED MAWA or RICOTTA CHEESE MAWA? Also i m using US sugar which is less sweet as compared to one in india. So still should i use the same measurement?

Loved ur presentation..i just hv a query..whenever we made gujiya the mawa filling is reduced to half after frying…what may be the reason..coz of this the gujiya looks so empty as if i hv not put any filling (i always try to put the correct quantity) but still…wish if u could help 🙂

Thanks for your feedback Gauri. This is a very common problem with gujiyas. I would suggest to spread the mixture around like a paste and then sealing the gujias. This way you will taste the mixture in every bite. Hope that answers your query. Feel free to contact me if you have any other question.

I love Gujia, it was always one of my favorite mitha as a child. Ruchi you are so awesome with a neat and clarified way of showing your recipes. Thanks so much for providing a very good website to teach young generations the art of Indian cooking! I made gujia today. It came out very well. Thanks a lot. Just a thought your website tagline should be Indian cooking made easy!!